The present invention relates to a mount for a weapon disposed above the roof of an armored vehicle and supported thereby, the weapon being adjustable as to its azimuth and its elevation and having a magazine symmetrically fastened thereto.
It is known for an armored vehicle with a tubular weapon to mount such a weapon in a fork by means of trunnions extending from both sides of the weapon so that the weapon will be adjustable as to elevation and to rotatably dispose the fork in a bearing within the vehicle roof so that the weapon will be rotatable about the azimuth axis, see for example, German Pat. No. 1,131,121. Aside from the fact that in this case the ammunition is inside the vehicle, the recoil force produced during firing is transmitted via the bearings to the vehicle roof. The recoil force causes the mount which is held in the vehicle roof, which roof has relatively little stiffness, to perform a tilting movement which has an adverse effect on the target accuracy.
It is therefore further known for an armored vehicle where the tubular weapon is attached outside the closed vehicle structure to place the fork-type mount serving to perform the elevational adjustment movement on a pivot pin which is rotatable about the azimuth axis, this pivot pin penetrating the vehicle superstructure over its entire height and being mounted in the vehicle roof as well as in the bottom of the vehicle, see for example, German Pat. No. 977,790. The drawback of this arrangement is that the weapon is inserted into an upwardly open U-shaped recess in the vehicle superstructure and can thus be adjusted as to its azimuth only to a very limited degree. Moreover, the pivot pin which passes vertically through the vehicle superstructure prevents space-saving accommodation of the crew. And with this type of structure the ammunition is accommodated next to or below the weapon in the closed vehicle superstructure.
It is further known for such weapon arrangements to design the fork-type mount to be adjustable in height together with the barrel of the weapon and to provide a drum-type magazine for the weapon (see German Pat. No. 1,186,368). The fork-type mount in this type of arrangement is guided in a tubular stud which is centrically mounted in a housing which is rotatable in the vehicle superstructure. This design has the drawback that two large-diameter roller bearings are required for the pivoting movement about the azimuth axis so that the arrangement becomes expensive. Furthermore, twisting of the vehicle superstructure during travel over uneven terrain can cause the two bearings to jam so that pivoting and thus accurate aligning of the weapon becomes more difficult, if not completely impossible. Here, too, the pivot pin passes through the rotatable housing so that space-saving accommodation of the crew is again made more difficult.